>But I think it's a baseless, and, I might say, entirely inappropriate
>and distressing thing to say about "the Republicans," whose collective
>will is not as clear-cut as that.

Yes and no...but a lot of the party's stands are in total lock-step.

For instance...I know somebody who ran for office as a Republican last year
(jms looks around the audience with doe-like eyes of innocence, letting folks
figure out the rest for themselves)...who told me that as part of running, the
Party gave him a box full of notebooks that contained what was to be his stance
on any number of issues. He was not to diverge from them.

But most troubling...he was given what was essentially a loyalty oath,
stipulating that he would support George W. Bush in the forthcoming primaries
*exclusively*, and not McCain, and if he didn't agree, the Party would withhold
its financing from his election bid.

So much for the marketplace of free ideas.

jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)